From the Inside
by GatomonandKariFan
Summary: Willow and Tara are going to Florida for their holiday, but when the weather changes drastically, and the two are stuck in a slowly flooding London. They decide that they must get to Hogwarts. Immediately. ('The Day After Tomorrow' cross over).
1. Chapter 1: It's Only the Beginning

From the Inside  
  
Summary: Willow and Tara are going to Florida for their holiday, but when the weather changes drastically, and the two are stuck in a slowly flooding London. They decide that they must get to Hogwarts. Immediately. ('The Day After Tomorrow' cross over).  
  
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Disclaimer: I do not own Harry Potter or any of it's characters, the only character I do own is Tara, my friends own the rest! I also do not own 'The Day After Tomorrow' or any of the ideas associated with it!  
  
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Chapter 1: It's Only The Beginning.......  
  
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(Willows POV)  
  
"Willow do you really need all these hats?" Tara asked me, holding up a dozen hats, which looked exactly the same... apart from the fact they were all different colours.  
  
I laughed, "Of course I do! I need these, desperately"  
  
Tara shook her head, "Do you need all these sunglasses, I mean you've lost pairs of sunglasses before but you're not gonna lose twelve of them"  
  
I got off sitting on my suitcase and grabbed three pairs of glasses.  
  
"That better?" I asked her.  
  
She shrugged and grabbed her suitcase.  
  
"We're gonna miss the flight if we don't go now" She sighed.  
  
I shook my head, "If we go now we have an hour wait"  
  
She walked out of my room and I finished zipping up my suitcase, which was full to the brim of clothes, hats, extra sunglasses, sun-cream, bikini's... everything you would need on a holiday. Well, especially if you were going to Florida for four weeks.  
  
Although it seemed stupid to leave England now, we were having the best heat wave on record, it hadn't rained since the end of May. It was boiling hot, almost like the Sahara desert.  
  
But not quite.  
  
"Willow! Come on!" Shouted Zara up the stairs.  
  
"I'm coming!" I shouted back. It would be weird, going on Holiday with no parents, Just Zara, Becky, Tara... Our Godmother, who was only 4 years older than me, and very cool, she'd promised to take us to see her friends and go to parties and thing's in America, it was great that this was finally happening, I'd never been to America before.  
  
And I wouldn't at this rate if I didn't hurry.  
  
"Willow come on we've got two cabs outside, waiting for us!" Shouted our Godmother, Alexa, who worked at the Ministry of Magic... who was going on a very long un-paid leave.  
  
"Ok! Ok!" I shouted, I took off my jacket, I wasn't gonna need anything like this, not here or America. I was wearing my White Mini-skirt and a small pink... yet tasteful summer top, plus trainers for that kind of funky look to it, But I would definitely put on my stiletto heels by the time we got out of the car. Although I was going to need my Jeans and Trainers at this rate, we were going to have to run through the airport.  
  
I placed my Suitcase in the back of the cab and sat next to Alexa and Becky.  
  
"Where is your jacket?" Alexa asked me.  
  
I shook my head, "I'm not gonna need one"  
  
"You're insane, it can get cold in America" Becky said.  
  
I rolled my eyes.  
  
"Yeah, that coming from the one that packed three jumpers"  
  
Alexa looked at me sternly.  
  
"Fine" She turned to the driver, "Heathrow Airport, please"  
  
The driver turned around, "Are you crazy?"  
  
"No but I'll pay you one hundred dollars" Alex looked for her purse.  
  
"We use Pounds here Alexa," I said. The driver started to drive and the other cab followed us.  
  
Slowly through the journey I was getting more and more worried, From everywhere I could see there were traffic jams facing the direction we wanted to go. It seemed like everyone was going to Heathrow.  
  
After a while it had become too much, like a lot of people around us I got out of the car and went to Tara and Zara's car, they were messing around with Tara's mobile phone. I knocked on the window, they turned to me and opened the window.  
  
"Hey Will, boring traffic jam isn't it?" Zara asked me cheerfully.  
  
Tara looked annoyed, "We're gonna miss our flight you know"  
  
I shook my head.  
  
"Look, I can see people moving in front of us, we're gonna be ok"  
  
We all got out the car to see the police coming through to the front of the queues... there had been an accident.  
  
"Aw crap" Zara sighed and turned to her phone, she dialled in a number and put the phone to her ear and started to talk, obviously to one of her friends.  
  
Tara and I took a little walk around the car's, talking, and came back about half an hour later to find that we hadn't moved, I saw Alexa come toward us.  
  
"Girl's, we're going to be very late, it looks like we'll have to catch the next flight," She said.  
  
Me and Tara looked at each other, "When's that?"  
  
Alexa looked at us, "Well, In about five hours"  
  
My face dropped, "That's at Six o'clock?!?"  
  
Tara raised her eyebrows.  
  
"This is all your fault Willow" She said angrily.  
  
"Yeah it is" I admitted, "I'm sorry you guys"  
  
Zara appeared from behind the cab, "You should be"  
  
I sat with Alexa, Tara, Becky and Zara on the boot of the first car.  
  
"Zara did you bring your Walkman?" Becky asked.  
  
Zara nodded, "Yeah, it's in the car though"  
  
"Oh... did you bring your Hip Hop album?"  
  
Zara shook her head.  
  
"I don't think so" She laughed, "It's well boring"  
  
Becky looked upset, "I love that album, I wish I could buy it off you"  
  
Zara sneered "You wouldn't have enough money"  
  
There was a pause.  
  
"Wow this is great, huh?" I broke the silence, "We could get tans and pretend we've been to America"  
  
"Yeah, or we could just be on the plane now and be going to America" Tara shot at me, I nodded.  
  
"I deserved that" I sighed, "But in my defence th-"  
  
I was stopped by screams and the unmistakable sound of a car alarm somewhere in front of us, I could see a mild wave of panicked people running back to their cars.  
  
"What's the bet that we're gonna be moving somewhere now?"  
  
Half the people that were passengers were out of their cars and looking into the distance, trying to find something that was wrong, there was nothing. But then another scream came from the distance, actually many screams came from the distance.  
  
"Ok, that can't be good" Becky looked into the distance.  
  
Then without a warning some kind of whooshing sound came down and there was a huge smash, glass went everywhere, there were screams now... lot's of them, and I had to admit one of them was mine. 


	2. Chapter 2: Gunn?

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Disclaimer: I do not own Harry Potter in any way or form, and I do not own any idea's or anything from 'The Day After Tomorrow'. I also do not own Charles Gunn from Angel, me mate added that bit in.  
  
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Chapter 2: Gunn???  
  
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(Willows POV)  
  
I looked up and wished I hadn't, the car just behind the second cab had been hit with something... and it was melting.  
  
"What is that?" I asked, shocked at the sight of so much blood.  
  
Tara and I made our way forward.  
  
"It's hail" She said solemnly.  
  
I turned to her, eyes wide. "That is hail? What the hell is the other stuff then?"  
  
The whooshing sound came near us again, this time it landed near my foot.  
  
At the same time we looked up at the sky and... hail was falling. Hail the size of footballs, there were screams and glass smashes, lot's of them.  
  
Suddenly something ice cold patted my cheek, "What is that?"  
  
Tara looked at me.  
  
"It's rain.. lot's of... it..." She looked up at the sky and now the Hail and Rain were falling, but very heavily. The road was already about a foot deep in rain, and the car's were lurching forward.  
  
"Tara! Willow! Get in the cars, NOW" Shouted Alexa from the cab, Tara and I ran to the cab's, we went for the first cab. I turned the handle on the door and nothing happened, I kept trying to open the door, it wasn't working, I was getting more worked up now.  
  
"Open the door" I said, looking at Alexa and Becky, they were trying from the other side... it wasn't opening.  
  
"OPEN THE DOOR" Tara shouted at the car and quickly went round the other side, narrowly missing a hail stone, and tried to open the door, that was locked too.  
  
"OPEN THE DOOR, OPEN THE DOOR, OPEN THE DOOR!" I screamed and kicked the car, upon hearing the sound of the locks being lifted from the car I went for it again... but the car lurched forward, and so did the other cab.  
  
My eye's widened, freezing cold rain the size of icicles patted down on me. Tara and I waited for a moment, car's rushing past us... it was funny that the car's had only the drivers in them, lots of people were left. But no- one we knew... No-one our age.  
  
"ALEXA, ZARA, BECKY!" I shouted into the distance, my hair was soaking wet and so was my clothes, my small top was sticking to me and the rain carried on falling.  
  
Absolutely freezing rain. I hadn't realised it but I was shaking like a leaf and had realised that they weren't coming back.  
  
"Oh my god Willow, we have to run" Tara said, in shock.  
  
I looked at the rain which was about a quarter of the way up my legs.  
  
People were running for the city now and realising there wasn't that much to the city we turned and started to run as fast as we could, the hail was worse than before, now reaching the size of a light that was used to light the whole corridor in my primary school, one landed just before where I was.  
  
Falling over it I rolled on the floor for a few feet before I stopped.  
  
I lay on the floor for a minute, I was still ok, but there was red on the newly fallen hailstone... my blood.  
  
I looked at my arm and a deep nasty cut had emerged, wincing as I stood up.  
  
I turned to run through the water which was now a quarter of the way up my legs, I slipped on a bit of ice under the water, stumbled and grabbed something hanging out of a car. I turned and too my horror it was someone who was unfortunate to be looking outside their window when a 'hail stone' had hit them.  
  
"Willow come on!" Tara shouted, soaking wet herself.  
  
I gasped, my eyes wide, still in shock I backed away and begun to run to the city. Tara ran after me, as many people were doing the same... I didn't know but I'd have to find a jacket... and fast, I was freezing and soaking wet.  
  
Maybe we could find someone's house, like someone from school, or maybe we could go to the Ministry of Magic... Actually, that wasn't such a bad idea.  
  
Turning we made a run for it, dodging the 'Hail stone's' and the freezing cold rain... which looked so cold by now it could turn into icicles.  
  
After a few minutes of running I realised that I was going to freeze at this rate, I walked into some designer shop and looked at a coat for a while.  
  
Tara followed me in.  
  
"Willow what are you doing?" She asked.  
  
I picked up the light pink coat and put it on, I turned and walked out the shop, the alarm's sounded and there was a wave of panic. Tara grabbed my arm and we both ran for it.  
  
I quickly ran, nearly slipping, the water was falling but it was turning to ice underneath it as well... this wasn't good, as we ran through the streets I realised I should have taken some trousers, my ankles and legs were freezing.  
  
The Ministry of Magic was in a few streets, we ran down the road which was actually crowded full of people with umbrella's that had no idea about how bad the rain was, it seemed that inside the city the Hail stone's were actually smaller than pea's, there were some idiots yelling to go inside... that's what we were going to do. It would be certainly safe inside the Ministry of Magic.  
  
Reaching the vandalised telephone box we went in and was in a little cover for a while, the rain was still pounding down like hammers, we needed to be quick.  
  
"Oh my god" I said to myself, "What's the number?"  
  
I clapped my hands together trying to remember and picked up the receiver, my hand's shaking, not just the reason I was cold... I was scared.  
  
I dialled Six two four four two and there was a polite voice on the phone.  
  
"Welcome to the Ministry of Magic. Please state your name and business"  
  
I breathed, thank god someone was answering, they obviously didn't know, "Willow Rosenburg and Tara Smyth. It's about the weather outside, we need to talk to someone. Anyone"  
  
We stood there, watching the water rise up in the city as I waited for an answer.  
  
Finally we got badge's and were let down into the Ministry of Magic.  
  
"Thank you" I said to myself angrily, and stepped out into the Atrium.  
  
Which had changed since I'd seen it last, there was a Main desk, and sofa's and it looked very much like a normal London company or something.  
  
I looked around and my trainer's squeaked as I walked across to the new desk.  
  
"Hi" I said, the woman looked up from her book and placed her wand that she had been directing the floo network with underneath the desk.  
  
"Hello" She tilted her head to one side, "Welcome to the Ministry of Magic..." She read my badge, "Willow Rosenburg with enquiry about weather"  
  
She smiled. "What would be that enquiry Miss Rosenburg?" She asked me.  
  
"Don't you know what's going on outside?" Tara asked her urgently.  
  
She made a face then did a sickening smile again.  
  
"I could pass you through to our Muggle Weather experts, they have an office in Scotland but I'll find them" She reached for her wand.  
  
"Yes I understand but wouldn't it be best for you to..."  
  
Slowly I turned around upon hearing that voice, it was the Minister of Magic... it was Fudge, here.  
  
"Cornelius Fudge!" I said, raising my voice a little, he turned around.  
  
I grabbed Tara's hand and walked up to him, the floor now soaking wet.  
  
"What?" He asked and turned to someone, "What is this girl doing here?"  
  
I bit my lip and looked at him.  
  
"I'm here as to enquire about the weather outside, unless you're completely stupid or you really don't know anything" I tilted my head and wriggled my nose, tempted to laugh, but I stopped myself.  
  
"I do know about the weather outside Miss..." He read the badge I had on, "Rosenburg"  
  
"Are you going to do anything about it?" I asked him, "Do you know what caused it?"  
  
"I don't feel it would be necessary to divulge that kind of information Miss Rosenburg, now if you excuse me..." He walked past me.  
  
"Wait! I need to know what's happening!?! Muggles have died already! And it's going to get worse!" I shouted after him, I saw him pause and mutter something to two strong looking men, They came over.  
  
"By the Order of the Minister Of Magic you have to leave now Miss Rosenburg" One of the men said.  
  
"No! I can't go out there, I'm going to die out there, I'm going to drown!" I said to them, worried.  
  
They looked at each other and each grabbed one of my arms and literally dragged me out of the building and to the telephone box, they opened the door of the vandalised telephone box.  
  
"You have to leave now. The Minister will make an announcement about the weather outside if he feels it necessary"  
  
I shook my head, Tara quickly ran to the telephone box and stood by me.  
  
"Come on! What do you suggest I do then?" I asked as the telephone box started to move.  
  
"Go inside and keep warm!" They shouted at me.  
  
There was a clunk to let me know we were there. I was shocked to find that the water had reached a level about half way up my leg's.  
  
And it was still ice-cold and turning into ice on the bottom. I swear we were about a foot above the actual height of the street... we needed to get inside, and at least try to find someone we knew or someone at the school, even if it turned out to be Draco Malfoy, I would be grateful.  
  
Quickly we walked through the street and were stunned to see it was exactly as it were before with everyone bustling around, some still shopping, apart from people were growing more panicked by the minute, and the hail stone's were now the size of golf-balls.  
  
Dodging the hail and wading through the water we reached a building with stairs leading up to it.  
  
"Willow let's go in here" Tara said, grabbing my arm.  
  
"Wait" I said, patting someone who was running past me, "Is this the theatre?"  
  
The girl nodded, "Yes it is"  
  
"Wait a second, do you have your parent's with you?" I asked her, although she looked about eighteen she looked very scared.  
  
"No, I'm looking for my boyfriend" She said, and looked at the theatre, "They're letting people in"  
  
I watched them as they opened the door's.  
  
"Let's go" I ran up the stairs along with some other people, the girl didn't move.  
  
"I need to find my boyfriend" She said simply and turned away, "TOM! TOM!" She shouted.  
  
The girl begun to walk away, Tara and I ran down the steps of the theatre.  
  
"Are you insane?" Tara asked her, she was wearing less than I was, just her bikini with flip flop's, she didn't have any belongings, or a coat.  
  
"You're going to freeze" I told her.  
  
She shook her head. "I'm fine" She begun to walk across the street and I followed her.  
  
"Your boyfriend... Tom is probably inside, he would want you to be inside as well" I told her, she shook her head.  
  
"Tom would be looking for me, Now leave me alone" She said, shivering, and she begun to walk through the crowds of people. We followed her at a pace, we'd been around a few corners and I was starting to freeze now.  
  
Everyone was literally wading through the water now.  
  
"Hey you!" Tara shouted, the girl turned around.  
  
"Have you been following me?" She asked, shocked.  
  
"Yes, Look the water is going to be so deep soon it's going to start to flood places, we need to go back to the theatre" I said, out of breath.  
  
The girl thought for a moment. "Ok, but only because I'm freezing and theatres have like... changing rooms?"  
  
I nodded, "They do"  
  
I grabbed her hand and we all waded through the nearly empty streets, building's were full to the brim of people.  
  
After five minutes we were insight of the theatre.  
  
"Wait!" I shouted at the man in a black coat and suit, he looked up.  
  
"Hurry up!" He shouted back, I understood why, the water was about half-way up the steps, if they didn't close the door it would flood... worse than it would with the door open.  
  
We all ran as the water had started to reach our waists.  
  
"Ok!" Tara shouted, the girl grabbed the man's hand and she was taken in, We stood still for a moment, realising that the ice was actually freezing all the water as it went along. Meaning that if the ice wasn't holding everyone's weight then most of us would have had to swim.  
  
The man appeared again and Tara grabbed his hand, he pulled her up then pulled me up and just as the water reached the last set of about twelve steps we closed the door.  
  
I leaned against the door and breathed in and out deeply.  
  
"You need to go to the highest floor of the theatre, follow me" The man said and walked us through the empty theatre, by the time we reached the top it was the actual top of the theatre where people would sit, apart from it was extremely full.  
  
Men, Woman, mother's, babies, children were all sitting down, drying off and picking out coats from a little pile on the table.  
  
Tara grabbed a jumper and a coat, which she wore, she had the perfect outside on.  
  
She offered me a nice pink and white jacket thing... But I shook my head.  
  
I looked around for the girl, and I saw her again, she had Jeans and a Jumper on now. Tara and I walked over to her.  
  
"Hey" I said to her, she turned around.  
  
"Hi again, Thanks for making me come here, my boyfriend is here!" She smiled.  
  
"That's great!" I smiled and held my hand out, "I'm Willow"  
  
She took my hand and nodded, "I'm Cindy"  
  
"Great name" I laughed, she joined in with the laughter.  
  
A pair of trainers were put on the table, Cindy and I turned around.  
  
"Charles" She smiled, "This is Willow"  
  
"You said his name was Tom" Tara said, Cindy went and whispered something to Tara.  
  
I looked up and couldn't believe my eyes, he couldn't be here.  
  
"Charles? Charles Gunn?" I asked.  
  
He nodded. 


	3. Chapter 3: More Hail?

Disclaimer: I do not own Harry Potter or Angel's Charles Gunn. I also do not own 'That Day After Tomorrow' but I did think it was an excellent film......................  
  
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Chapter 3: More Hail?  
  
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I couldn't allow myself to believe it, he couldn't be here. We had been friends for about two years, he'd been hanging out at Hogwarts with me, Tara, Piper and Christine for as long as I could remember... everything got out of hand and now he was here... with a girlfriend... called Cindy.  
  
"Gunn" I said to him, he looked up.  
  
"Charles, Willow... My name is Charles" He smiled.  
  
"Is she a muggle?" I asked him.  
  
Gunn shook his head, "No she's not, she's a witch, she works for the ministry of magic"  
  
Cindy poked her head out in front of us, Tara linked arms with me.  
  
"I couldn't help but over-hear... because I was trying to!" She let rip with this laugh which sounded very much like a cat in torture mixed with the voice of a developing boy, "I'm a receptionist"  
  
I smiled.  
  
"I couldn't tell!" I laughed at my own joke and looked at Gunn and added, "How come you're wearing a suit, it's... it was the hottest day of the year."  
  
He looked at me.  
  
"Oh, I have a job at the ministry, I'm working my way up through the ranks, but I'm hoping to work for the Minister himself one day"  
  
Him and Cindy laughed then kissed like a married couple, I looked completely shocked and annoyed at them. They were so pathetic.  
  
Although I thought they were pathetic I still wasn't sure why I was jealous of Cindy. I mean come on... she's pathetic and sad.....  
  
Well, she is.  
  
And I could make such a better girlfriend than her.  
  
It was one of those moments when I couldn't gasp out loud so had to do it in my head.  
  
I couldn't believe all these feeling's were rushing back, especially since I should be on the flight to Florida by now and should be dry and with my family and not in a theatre waiting for the water to slowly drown us.  
  
"I'm going there" I said simply.  
  
Gunn and Cindy stopped laughing.  
  
"Where?" Cindy asked.  
  
"What?" Tara asked me, shocked.  
  
"To the Ministry of Magic, Tara we were there half an hour ago. I can still go there"  
  
"Willow the weather will kill you" Tara said, and added, "Plus you'll freeze and you need to at least get dressed into something warm.  
  
"No it won't freeze me, and I'm not wet" I said, pointing to my dark brown hair, "See? It's dry, My hair has dried, I'm ok!"  
  
Gunn shook his head.  
  
"No you're not, If you're going then I'm going" He said, looking into my eyes, which made me feel... Oh never mind.  
  
"Fine, you're going with me"  
  
Cindy stepped forward.  
  
"I have to like, go too" She did the laugh again and I winced, it was a truly awful laugh.  
  
Tara reluctantly stepped forward.  
  
"It makes me sound really selfish if I don't go..." Tara paused and bought her phone out of her pocket.  
  
"I didn't know you had that" I said.  
  
Tara looked confused.  
  
"Neither did I" She confessed and answered the phone, it carried on beeping.  
  
She looked at the phone, "It got water in it, it's broken"  
  
I grabbed the phone off her and threw it at the man in the suit, he ran for it and caught the phone, people were getting panicked, Me, Tara, Gunn and Cindy ran past them and down the steps.  
  
We'd reached the main bit of the theatre and the water had started to sink through, it was only a few centimetres but it was absolutely freezing cold.  
  
"We shouldn't be doing this" Cindy said, shivering.  
  
"Shut up" I glared at her, "I'm wearing a Mini skirt and a small top and a pink stolen designer coat, y'know I think I'm colder than you"  
  
I heard whispering as they walked behind me. I stopped at the door.  
  
"Are you ready?" I asked them, they nodded.  
  
Tara took me to the side for a moment.  
  
"They were whispering about you" She muttered, I nodded.  
  
"I know"  
  
I stood in front of the door and turned the door knob and opened the door, prepared for the worst, only a trickle of water came into the foyer, there was a thin layer of water and the rest had iced over.  
  
"Let's go" I said, and stood on the ice, the other's followed me as we all walked/skated across the ice.  
  
"Only one more street" I said to the other's, they'd caught up with me by now.  
  
"Ok, it'll be ok inside the ministry" Gunn said to Cindy, who wasn't moving at all, he was dragging her along.  
  
The 'Hail' had stopped by now and the rain was nearly gone.  
  
It was like something had stopped it somehow, I was glad, but we couldn't turn back now, we had to get to the Ministry.  
  
We'd reached the street with one problem, the ice had frozen all around the telephone box.  
  
I turned to the others.  
  
"We have to go back" I told them, pointing to the phone box.  
  
"Come on, we can just like, melt it" Cindy said, and did that laugh again.  
  
Gunn managed to keep a straight face, I don't understand how he could.  
  
In the distance I heard screams and a massive whooshing sound.  
  
"Oh no, More Hail?" Tara asked.  
  
Within a few minutes we'd all gone in the direction of the telephone box... well at least I thought we did. I turned around to see no-one there but Cindy.  
  
"Cindy where is Gunn and Tara?" I asked her.  
  
She shrugged. I looked around.  
  
There seemed to be someone doing a news report on a car, they were staring at something.  
  
"Do you mind?" I asked them, and climbed on top of the car, they pointed the camera at me.  
  
"What are you doing?" I asked them.  
  
"Filming" The camera man said.  
  
I shook my head.  
  
"You need to go inside otherwise you're going to die, now go!" I told them, they nodded and the camera man pointed the camera at me again.  
  
"Where are you going?" They asked me.  
  
"To find my sister" I replied and ran as fast as I could in the direction of a massive tidal wave heading for me.  
  
There was a tap on my shoulder.  
  
"Hey Willow, the tidal wave won't reach us for another hour" Tara panted.  
  
"What?" I said in disbelief, looking at the tidal wave.  
  
"Yeah the ministry told everyone about an hour ago" Gunn said, hitting Tara in the ribs.  
  
"Oh my god" I said sarcastically, we stood for a moment. Then we all scrambled for the phone box.  
  
"Willow, there are people outside still!" Tara shouted to me.  
  
I looked around and saw a mother and baby walking across the ice in the distance.  
  
"Oh my god, I'll get them, don't worry, Tara find Cindy"  
  
"Gunn, break the ice around the phone box" Tara shouted to him, he nodded and Tara went to find Cindy.  
  
I quickly ran across the ice, kind of slipping but maintaining balance, I reached the girl.  
  
"You used to go to Hogwarts" I said to her.  
  
She nodded, "This is my daughter Jasmine"  
  
I smiled and grabbed the girl's hand.  
  
"Come on" We all ran, Jasmine in her mum's arms.  
  
"Willow! Cindy is too far in the distance" Tara shouted to me.  
  
As we ran I turned to the girl. "I'm Willow by the way, you get to the telephone box, I'll be there, ok?"  
  
She nodded, "I'm Carla"  
  
She looked at Cindy.  
  
"Oh my god, you're not gonna make it" She looked at me.  
  
I nodded, "I will, now go!"  
  
Tara grabbed Carla's hand and her, Jasmine and Carla were at the telephone box which was full of water.  
  
"CINDY, RUN TOWARDS ME" I shouted to her, the massive tidal wave was so close to us now, it would kill us for sure, and certainly since the water turns to ice.  
  
As she reached me I grabbed her arm and we ran for the telephone box.  
  
"You know what to dial?" I shouted to Gunn, he nodded.  
  
He was busy dialling and me and Cindy started to run, I pushed her in front of me and she made it to the telephone box... I would have to slide or something. I got ready to slide to the telephone box and felt something crack beneath me, the next thing I felt was freezing cold water around my whole body.  
  
"Oh F-" I shouted, and realised the water would reach me within a matter of time.  
  
Suddenly I felt hands lift me out of the water.  
  
"Willow come on!" Smiled Carla, she pushed me and I got pushed into the telephone box.  
  
Cindy handed me Jasmine and I held the girl of about three in my hands.  
  
"Willow, what do we do when we get to the ministry?" Tara asked me.  
  
"I don't know, we just have to talk to someone there, get them to sort it out" I said.  
  
Gunn handed me a badge and the telephone box began to move.  
  
"Whoa" Gunn said, looking around him, "No! No don't move, DON'T MOVE!" He shouted at the telephone box.  
  
"CARLA HURRY UP, YOU CAN MAKE IT!" I shouted to Carla who stood there, she took a look at the wave which was now very close to her.  
  
Without a warning Cindy scrambled out of the telephone box and grabbed Carla, they both began to walk towards us, Tara hugged me and turned away, we all knew what was about to happen, there was a thumping on the telephone box.  
  
"Oh my god" I said, looking around, "Move down! Faster! Move you stupid little..."  
  
Just as the wave hit the telephone box we managed to go down in time, although there was ice-cold water up to our knees I think we were ok. 


	4. Chapter 4: The Safe Room at the Ministry

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Disclaimer: I do not own Harry Potter, The Day After Tomorrow or Angels' Charles Gunn. I do however own this adorable Dobby squeaky toy....  
  
SSSSSSSSSSQQQQQQQQQQQQQQUUUUUUUEEEEEEEEAAAAAAAKKKKK :-P  
  
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Chapter 4: The Safe Room at the Ministry  
  
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I opened the telephone box and water went all over the floor, I slid down the telephone box... exhausted.  
  
The cut on my arm was very painful and it stung from the water. I stood up and Gunn held Jasmine in his arms. I took a wet tissue out of my pocket...  
  
Jasmine would never see her mother ever again. I cried a little and wiped my eyes with the tissue.  
  
I was watching him and heard a few voices. One of them was saying my name.  
  
"I'm here" I said and looked up to find my friend Absynthe standing there. I felt so happy seeing her. She hugged me and then Tara, we noticed she had a bag with her.  
  
"It won't work here" Tara stated, watching Absynthe pull out a hand-held television and a laptop, she added, "Too much magic"  
  
Absynthe shook her head, "It's ok, this has been charmed. It can"  
  
She flipped open her laptop and handed me a portable television.  
  
"See if you can get anything on that... Maybe we can see how others are coping" Absynthe gave me a warm smile and I checked the television.  
  
I fiddled with the television screen and the buttons on it, I smacked the back of it with my hand and waved it about in the air when I got a picture.  
  
I cried out and thrust the television towards them.  
  
"Got something!" I said grimly. "Tornadoes over America, Hail in China and Japan... Snow and ice over Canada" I had the volume up at full blast, it seemed that the station was just showing you the damage.  
  
"We have to tell the Minister. That storm heading over Scotland surprised us, and we were in a weather station for Merlin's sake! No wonder Scotland didn't flood as H0GWARTS would have been evacuated. These storms move quickly." Absynthe said flatly and stood up, putting the laptop away. We nodded and joined her as she began to walk off.  
  
"Wait!" Someone yelled and I turned around, it was Gunn. He nearly slipped on the shiny floor but regained his balance I couldn't help but smile.  
  
"Jasmine!" I cried and took the baby, "Thank you Charles."  
  
I smiled at him and he smiled back, we stood for a moment, just looking at each other, we noticed that we were looking a bit stupid and both coughed and turned around.  
  
"You should do some drying charms, I doubt anyone is going to mind us doing underage magic." Absynthe said grimly.  
  
Tara nodded and did a spell on herself.  
  
"Willow do you wanna do the spell... you won't get into trouble" She smiled at me, I shook my head, looking back at Gunn.  
  
I heard Absynthe ask who the boy was.  
  
Tara tapped me on my shoulder.  
  
"Can I tell her?" She asked me. I nodded.  
  
Tara told Absynthe about Gunn and the big long history between us. The whole story with him having a massive crush on me and me liking him back but being too late because he had a girlfriend....  
  
"So you guy's are like, in love with each other?" Asked Absynthe.  
  
I nodded, "I'm not sure about him being in love with me but me... yeah"  
  
We all paused and started to walk again, I felt a tap on my shoulder.  
  
"Hi Gunn" I smiled, my voice pretty small, I coughed.  
  
"Hey Willow" He nodded and begun to walk along with us. Everything was silent.  
  
Absynthe looked from me to Gunn and took him to the side.  
  
"I know what she's talking about" I said glumly.  
  
"What's wrong with him knowing that you love him?" Tara asked.  
  
"Well, maybe because I wanted to tell him" I shrugged and paused for a second.  
  
A shiver went up my spine and I looked behind me. One of the security men from earlier was running around... terrified.  
  
"EVERYONE" He shouted, "YOU HAVE TO EVACUTE THE BUILDING, NOW"  
  
There was no questioning it.  
  
Everyone ran in a panic to a room which can't be touched by anything. I slowly saw the room fill up with people. Water had started to seep through and it was putting pressure on the ground above it.  
  
"There's no room for us" Tara said in disbelief, I looked down at Jasmine.  
  
"We can't let her die" I told her. Gunn and Absynthe walked over.  
  
"Can I talk to you Willow?" Gunn asked me, I watched the pavement above pound with the pressure of the water.  
  
Tara climbed onto the desk and opened a little vent in the ceiling, it was big enough to fit a full grown man, Absynthe went up first and helped Tara up, Gunn went in after them and I held Jasmine up, they almost took her when I paused. And very slowly turned around.  
  
The pressure wasn't high enough to burst yet. I grabbed Jasmine and jumped down into the water. I ran for it, across the Atrium and opened the door... very slowly the locks came undone and there was a cry of panic inside. I handed Jasmine to the first person I saw.  
  
"You have to look after her" I told them, they nodded.  
  
"Aren't you coming in?" Asked someone.  
  
I shook my head, and waited for another minute to make sure that the locks were ok.  
  
"WILLOW! WILLOW!" Shouted Tara.  
  
"GET OVER HERE NOW OR YOU'LL DIE" Gunn and Absynthe shouted from the ceiling bit, they were all leaning down, Tara was looking at the telephone box, where it was ready to burst, and Gunn and Absynthe were looking at me.  
  
"Ok!" I shouted back. I made a run for it but I was too late.  
  
The telephone box had filled with water and with a massive crash, the whole wall by the telephone box broke off and the water came gushing in, I stood there, like a deer in the headlights... unable to move or speak.  
  
I finally made a run for it and jumped onto the desk, I grabbed Gunn's hand... but was it too late? 


	5. Chapter 5: The Vent

Disclaimer: I do not own Harry Potter, The Day After Tomorrow or Charles Gunn for the 5th time!  
  
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Chapter 5: The Vent  
  
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My hand slapped onto Gunn's and he pulled be up and immediately closed the shaft, I panted heavily and mouthed 'thanks' to him.  
  
"Guys?" Came Absynthe's voice, we looked at her she sighed. "We need to move. Now, the waters going to be up here in a minute and we don't want to be here when it does,"  
  
Everyone stayed still for a moment when we all suddenly started to frantically crawl down the metal air vent. I manoeuvred my way across the hole and followed them down.  
  
Our voices echoed around the vent. It suddenly took a steep decline and I knew we had gone the wrong way. We needed to get out. And fast.  
  
"It keeps going down!" Tara yelled.  
  
"Try to find a shaft leading up," Gunn shouted back at her. "There should be a maintenance shaft somewhere along here, there has to be. It makes sense for there to be one!"  
  
We nodded and scrambled on only to be met with the icy cold water that soon puddled at our feet as the vent levelled out. And too our relief there was indeed a maintenance shaft above us. We began to climb the metal ladder leading up the hatch when I noticed a lot of icy water seeping round the edges of the shaft.  
  
"Everyone better be good at bubble-head charms, because we'll need them," I noticed them look at the shaft. Tara gave me a grim look and she swallowed.  
  
"Ok, good luck guys,"  
  
"Thanks Taz, we'll need it," I replied and smiled.  
  
We all did the bubble-head charms and opened the hatch. It covered us in freezing cold water, we all held onto the ladder for dear life, once the water was yet again covering us, we swam up and entered a very dark room, full of water. We swam up to a door, it seemed like we were in a basement of some kind.  
  
I hadn't noticed just how cold the water had made me, I was feeling ill by now.  
  
It took the joint effort of all of us to get the door open. The room we were entering had water about three centimetres off the floor, but as we'd opened the door it was rising up to our waists.  
  
We all closed the door and I saw something out of the corner of my eye. I took the bubble head charm off myself, as did everyone else.  
  
"Hello?" I shouted, wondering if anyone was here.  
  
I made my way over to the thing floating in the water... was it a bottle perhaps or maybe a clever portkey, disguised as... whatever it was?  
  
I waited for a moment when I reached the floating thing and when it turned around I screamed, I heard people wade in the water towards me.  
  
"Willow what is that?" Absynthe asked me.  
  
I turned around, tears in my eyes. "Don't look, Don't look!" I said.  
  
I had found a paper white baby lying in the water... not more than a month old.  
  
And I found tears pouring down my cheeks, this was terrible...  
  
"Oh, Tara don't look, Absynthe... don't look" I heard Gunn's voice say, I turned to face him.  
  
"What is it?" I asked him, facing the other way so he could see it and I couldn't.  
  
"It's the babies mother..." Gunn trailed off, "Are you okay?"  
  
I nodded, wiping tears from my eyes, Gunn hugged me, we remained hugging for a few minutes.  
  
"Shh... It's ok Willow" Gunn said, comforting me.  
  
It was very sweet of him to comfort me like this but I couldn't help notice that the droplets of water on my arm were turning icy... they were turning into ice.  
  
My eyes widened and I pulled away from Gunn.  
  
I brushed off the ice and looked at the cut on my arm, which was stinging and seemed to have been iced over.  
  
"What's happening?" I asked everyone, "Absynthe... what did the weather say? You need to tell me, I need to know why this is happening"  
  
She gave me a comforting smile.  
  
"We need to get to Hogwarts" She said, simply.  
  
We waded through the water to the other side of the room... it seemed we were in a club of some sort. Until something struck me.  
  
"Oh my god" I said aloud.  
  
"What?" Gunn asked, he was by my side again... what was he doing, stalking me?  
  
I turned to Absynthe, ignoring Gunn.  
  
"Absynthe, you need to get out your laptop and tell me the weather over France" I told her.  
  
She looked amused, "Why?"  
  
I bit my lip.  
  
"I have... friends there" 


	6. Chapter 6: Revelations for the Paris Ope...

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Disclaimer: I do not own Harry Potter, The Day After Tomorrow or Charles Gunn. SO PLEASE DON'T SUE! Tah!  
  
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Chapter 6: Revelations for the Paris Opera.  
  
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(Christine's POV)  
  
Giving a deep curtsey and accepting a beautiful bouquet of pink and red roses, I watched the audience as the curtain closed.  
  
Another performance finished!  
  
I gave a friendly hug to my co-stars and a rose to each of the chorus members, as was my tradition. They worked so very hard and rarely got any acknowledgement.  
  
I remember that, having been there myself. After congratulating my friend Meg Giry on her debut as Prima Ballerina, I ran up the long, shadowy staircase to my dressing room, where I knew Severus would be waiting for me.  
  
As it had been the last performance of the season, we would be apparating back to Hogwarts later that evening.  
  
Knowing him, he'd probably insist that we have one last dinner in Paris before going back. Of course, once back at Hogwarts I would also be calling him Prof. Snape again.  
  
Here, at the opera, he was Severus, and we were friends, rather than teacher and student. And even so, there were very few people who knew there was anything more between us, with those who did thinking the Potion's Master had lost his mind!  
  
Severus and I didn't admit to anything other than friendship which had grown out of his interest in opera and my being an opera singer.  
  
"And did you manage to say goodbye to absolutely every last member of the company?" Severus sneered as I walked into the dressing room.  
  
I looked at him and giggled. "Did I really take that long?" I had honestly come upstairs as quickly as possible.  
  
"So it seems." Severus stated, taking a sip of whatever he had poured himself. "I'll forgive you this time, as it was the final performance."  
  
"How generous of you." I said with a smile, quite used to his sarcasm and arrogance. "Well, I'll just change into regular clothes and we can go."  
  
"Dinner first?" asked Severus, as I had figured he would.  
  
"Sounds good to me," I answered as I stepped behind the Oriental dressing screen. "Do you have any idea where you want to go?"  
  
"Somewhere close unless we apparate." Severus suggested. "It's still raining like the sky just opened up."  
  
I charmed my costume off and street clothes on and stepped out into the room again. "Still? That's three days, isn't it?"  
  
"At least," he said flatly as he stood and crossed to me. Rather unexpectedly, Severus wrapped his arms around me, pulling me close to him. "You were superb tonight, by the way."  
  
"Thank you," I smiled up at him happily. "It's one of my favourite roles."  
  
Severus smiled down at me warmly and drew me into a lingering kiss. I could feel myself melting in his embrace and completely lost all track of time. He had that effect on me. Despite what others thought, Prof. Snape did brush his teeth and wash his hair and person.  
  
I loved the spicey scent of him and the warmth of his arms around me. It felt safe and just right. Our moment was unfortunately interrupted by a frantic knock on the door and we pulled apart reluctantly.  
  
"Come in." I said a bit breathlessly. Meg rushed in with an agitated expression, her dark hair streaming about her face. "Meg, what's wrong?"  
  
"Have you heard what's going on in London?" Meg asked, searching my room for a television. I didn't have one.  
  
"What's happening in London?" I asked, looking up at Severus.  
  
"Hold on." Meg slipped her wand from her pocket and conjured a television set and turned it on. A rather fuzzy picture appeared. "Here, watch."  
  
It was difficult to tell what exactly was happening, but it looked as though the reporter was standing on top of his car, which was mostly submerged under water. I leaned forward to adjust the image but that was as clear as it was going to get apparently.  
  
The reporter was talking about rising water levels in the city and the Thames and it took me a few moments to realise this was taking place in the middle of London, not near the shore or the river. It was rather close to the airport. Just as the reporter was starting to explain how the city became flooded, screams were heard in the area and the camera pulled back.  
  
A gigantic wave was rapidly approaching the spot where they were, and suddenly the picture went black. Numbly, I turned to Severus and Meg, who looked equally as stunned.  
  
"This has been playing on the news for the last hour or so according to my dresser," Meg explained excitedly. "No one seems to be able to get any further transmissions from London."  
  
"I wonder how far north the flooding went?" I whispered, fearing for my friends from Hogwarts.  
  
"They didn't say," Meg answered.  
  
"I think we had best leave now and find out," Severus stated, placing a hand on my shoulder. "I do hope that Hogwarts isn't underwater."  
  
(Professor Snape's POV)  
  
Christine's eyes flew wider than they already were and she quickly gave her friend a hug and grabbed my hand, indicating that she was ready to go.  
  
"Keep yourself safe, mon ami."  
  
"Both of you do the same." The ballet dancer looked as frightened as Christine did. Personally I was becoming impatient to leave and see just what was going on.  
  
"We'll apparate." I said, leaving no room for argument.  
  
Opening my arms, Christine wrapped her's around my waist and I apparated the two of us to London, and to the Ministry of Magic. Utter chaos greeted us. People were running to and fro in panic. Some were soaked through and shivering, while others were busy placing drying charms on themselves.  
  
All were demanding to know what in Merlin's name was going on outside. I kept a tight hold on Christine's hand so as not to lose her in the crowd and confusion. A group of saturated people shot through one of the floo entrances, landing in a heap and puddle inches from us. The water they accidentally splashed on us was frigid.  
  
"What is going on?" asked Christine, looking around wide-eyed at everyone.  
  
"I suppose it's raining here like it is in Paris," I stated with a liberal dose of sarcasm . "Oh, it's doing more than raining out there," announced one of the people who had just arrived. "There's hail the size of oranges and terrible flooding. Up to my hips, it was. And icy cold."  
  
"But it's summer," Christine gasped in astonishment.  
  
"One wouldn't know that out there!" quipped another wet person.  
  
I pulled Christine away, towards the lifts, where it was somewhat less wet and slippery. So many people were flooing in from all over the city that the lobby was becoming quite crowded. The receptionist had all but given up trying to register anyone or weighing their wands. Actually, I found this the perfect opportunity to slip past the guard and go into one of the lifts.  
  
The two of us were dry and looked as though we might belong there allowing us to push a button and not look suspicious. As much as I detested having to speak to any of the Weasleys, Arthur Weasley's preoccupation with all things muggle might just come in handy at the moment. He might have an idea what was happening outside.  
  
No sooner did we exit the lift at our floor, than an announcement was clearly heard amongst the chaos that appeared to have extended itself to every floor at the Ministry. It simply told us to gather in a safe room on the floor that we were on. Having worked all of these years as a spy, I knew the layout of this building and took firm hold of Christine's arm, propelling her towards the aforementioned room.  
  
She protested at first, but I told her that there was a reason for this or it never would have been suggested in the first place. Most wizards and witches were perfectly capable of apparating in case of any major disaster. There had to be some reason that they did not wish us to do so.  
  
"Snape, what are you doing here?" the voice of Arthur Weasley came from behind me.  
  
"Weasley." I acknowledged, pulling Christine to a halt. "What in Merlin's name is going on out there?"  
  
"It's a weather disaster of some sort." Weasley explained. "We're trying to reach some of the Elementals to enlist their help. But before we do that, we need every available wizard and witch to assist us in securing the Atrium. It's flooding."  
  
Naturally, no one had ever thought to waterproof this place, I thought to myself. "I suppose you'll be wanting our help then." I tried to keep my voice in its usual sarcastic tones.  
  
"Of course, Snape." Weasley indicated for us to follow him. "Christine, hello. Perhaps you had best get to the safe room."  
  
"I can't do that, Mr. Weasley." Christine said in a most friendly manner, despite which Arthur managed to look suprised.  
  
"She stays with me." I barked rather harshly.  
  
"But she's a student." Weasley protested.  
  
"Oui, I am," agreed Christine, continuing to walk with us. "But I'm 18, so I'm no longer underaged. Plus I need to stay near the Professor."  
  
"Ah yes, there is that." The memory that Christine had been inducted into the Order at the beginning of the summer apparently popped back into Weasley's mind. He stopped protesting after that.  
  
The three of us followed Arthur back to the Atrium where those who were still there were nearly knee deep in icy water. A good deal of them were panicking, which was getting in the way of those trying to get things under control.  
  
I could feel myself sneering at the utter disorganisation of it all. Ignoring the others, I looked around to see if I could find where the water was entering from. Christine, thank the Gods, followed suit and between both of us we managed to find the major source of the leak. The telephone booth. Every time someone entered from the outside, water gushed in after them. Somehow it had to stop.  
  
"Arthur!" I bellowed, catching his attention. He waded over to where we were standing. "Is there any way to block this off?"  
  
"Not without cutting off access to the building for whoever might still be in need of shelter in here," he answered. There was no need for an explanation of why I had asked, since every few moments more people tumbled out of the booth.  
  
"We might have to." I stated, knowing that a choice needed to be made or we would lose the battle with the flooding. Weasley agreed.  
  
Without further argument, we waited for the booth to descend once more and before it could rise back up to it's place, we securely sealed it off. Nothing and no one would be able to get into the phone booth. Hopefully that would stop the water, as well, unless it was leaking from around the sides.  
  
Drawing my wand, I placed a firm seal around the entrance into the Ministry and was more than a little relieved to find that the water had stopped bubbling and streaming in. It had worked.  
  
"Well done, Severus!" Weasley congratulated me with far too much enthusiasm.  
  
It was to be short-lived, however, as Christine tugged at my sleeve and pointed toward the floo fireplaces. "This wasn't the only place."  
  
I could feel the colour draining from my face at the sight of vast amounts of water accompanying those who were flooing in. Several witches and wizards were already there, working on that problem however and we quickly sloshed through the standing water and joined them.  
  
One of them was quite certain that there was a way to allow only living beings to enter. Other than their clothing, nothing inanimate would be allowed through. That was to include water, of course. Unfortunately, no one knew how to adjust the floo network to those specifications. There had to be a way.  
  
(Christine's POV)  
  
My attention was diverted when I realised that the water level was still rising. With a sense of dread I looked towards the floo fireplaces and tugged at Severus' damp sleeve. "This wasn't the only place."  
  
The colour drained from Severus' face at the sight of vast amounts of water accompanying those who were flooing in, leaving him paler than usual. Several witches and wizards were already there, working on that problem however and we quickly sloshed through the standing water and joined them. I fought the urge to swim. It might have been easier. One of them was quite certain that there was a way to allow only living beings to enter.  
  
Other than their clothing, nothing inanimate would be allowed through. That was to include water, of course. Unfortunately, no one knew how to adjust the floo network to those specifications. There had to be a way.  
  
Another gush of frigid water came from the fireplace we were closest to and knocked me off my feet. Two pairs of strong arms lifted me up almost immediately, though it didn't keep me from shivering, as I was now properly drenched. It wasn't even worth performing a drying spell at this point.  
  
I rung out my hair, tying it into a knot to keep it out of the way. Severus' arm, to which I was clinging, kept me on my feet through the next few gushes from the fireplaces. Not only water was coming in, but melting pellets of hail, as well. Some were the size of oranges!  
  
"May the Goddess protect us!" gasped Mr. Weasley as what looked to be several battered, and rather dead, bodies shot through into the room.  
  
They eerily floated on the water, causing everyone in the immediate area to quiet in shock. One was a baby, its mother floating behind. The poor thing must have drowned after the mother had been hit by one of the balls of hail. Or by something from the gash on her head.  
  
I was quickly becoming numb and not only from the cold water.  
  
"Prof. Snape, perhaps we should all get to that safe room." I suggested my voice barely above a whisper.  
  
"We're needed here." was all that Severus answered, though he didn't remove my hand from his arm.  
  
"Actually, Severus," began Mr. Weasley, "I know I saw several students amongst the group down here. Maybe it would be prudent to apparate them and their families to Hogwarts. I think there are enough of us here to secure the Ministry."  
  
"How the bloody hell do we separate them from the others?" Severus spat in frustration.  
  
"Tell them it's an order from the Ministry." Mr. Weasley smiled, a Dumbledore-like twinkle in his eyes. Severus rolled his eyes. I just looked at him hopefully.  
  
"Oh, very well," Severus grumbled irritably, dragging me behind him.  
  
"Tell Ron and Ginny I'll get to them as soon as possible," yelled Mr. Weasley to our backs.  
  
I turned, nearly tripping over something beneath the water. "We'll tell them."  
  
As we reached the safe room, I was quite relieved to find that it wasn't flooded, even if I was shivering violently. I performed a drying spell but still felt chilled through to the bone.  
  
Not as many people were in here as I had thought would be but the room was full. Shock was registering in almost every face. My eyes scanned through everyone and I noticed that there were several students that I recognised. Since it was summer, I doubted that many were left in London.  
  
"All Hogwarts students and their families, please gather here." Severus ordered officially, using sonorous to amplify his voice over the idle chatter in the room. Ending the spell, since he had no intentions of repeating himself, he crossed his arms over his chest and we waited.  
  
Slowly, far too slowly but probably because of the shock, several students drifted over towards us. Some were with their families and some were merely with friends. None seemed overly happy that it was Prof. Snape who was here to save them. Well, except for Draco Malfoy, who was amongst the group. I wondered if his father was somewhere around the building, and if he was helping or hindering the mess. The blonde seemed to be taking particular care not to touch those who weren't purebloods. Typical. Even in a crisis.  
  
"Is that all of you then?" Severus asked and received a quiet response. "I am going to bring us all to Hogwarts, which I shall assume is safe." He leaned down to me, whispering close to my ear. "Do you still have that bottle of soda with you?"  
  
"Of course," I smiled and retrieved a bottle of my favourite Diet Coke from a pocket. It was a Muggle vice of mine.  
  
Severus grabbed the mostly empty bottle from me and muttered an incantation which turned it into a portkey. He advised everyone there to either grasp the soda bottle or someone who was touching the bottle. My hand was securely beneath his, his long fingers also in contact with the surface of the portkey. With a suprisingly minimum of fuss, everyone soon was in direct or indirect contact and Severus activated the portkey, pulling us rapidly to Hogwarts.  
  
We were roughly deposited onto the floor of the Great Hall, causing quite a few of us a wonderful bout of nausea. Unfortunately, I was amongst those who lost the contents of their stomach. Not that that was unusual for me after either flooing or using a portkey. I hated travelling that way but sometimes there just wasn't any other choice. Cringing at having vomited, I quickly cleaned up the mess magically, and assisted a few of the younger students in doing the same.  
  
Prof. Snape caught my eye and moved away from me almost as soon as we got to the school. More than likely he was going in search of Prof. Dumbledore. Of course, we had to put on the front of being teacher and student here or we would be risking his job and my place as a student, not to mention endangering the Order. No one thought it odd that we were together, though, thanks to my reputation as his Ravenclaw shadow!  
  
I noticed a few other students who were seventh years and sixth years, and recruited them to help me get everyone organised. And yes, Draco was one of them. After all, there were Slytherins amongst us.  
  
"All right, Draco, you take charge of the Slytherins and their families," I began, a little frustrated that I didn't see any of the other student heads amongst us. "Ron, you get the Gryffindors and their families....Pandora, I know you're relatively new, but would you gather the Hufflepuffs and their families? I'll take care of the Ravenclaws."  
  
"Should we bring them to our common rooms?" asked Pandora, who was shivering almost as much as I was.  
  
"Oui," I answered. "Our heads of house will take care of things from there." At least I hoped that they would.  
  
It bothered me that the other student heads were missing, as well as the Prefects. I prayed that they were safe, wherever they ended up. Looking out of the windows, I saw that the weather here was worse than in London.  
  
Here it was snowing.  
  
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End file.
